I can't stand these fundraisers!

[punkin]

People who are eating canned spam twice a week to make ends meet shouldn't be required to subsidize your child's college admission. That's why fundraisers are held in the first place. If you don't like fundraisers the only other alternative is to get rid of the activities that can't be supported by taxes alone. Expect the situation to get worse, not better, as all the bills the government is running up now start coming due.

Please...this is really not a political thread. Don't make it into one.

 

[Ka' eo]

ITA! Our school puts 2 bikes in the foyer for ALL the kids to see, a pink and a blue one. A child of each gender who sells the most junk wins one. That is a set up!!!!!!!!!!!!! We refuse to do them. The wrapping paper and candles are horrible. The candy is awful too! We hate it! So we donate some money to the school instead. I don't mind doing that. We are happy to go to school fundraisers like fairs, breakfasts and such.

 

[tommya60]

I would not send them to Doctors offices, I know from personal experience these can end up not counting. My sister and I would send them to each other, to our Dh's offices, to office staff members, etc. Everyone knew they could toss it when it arrives.

I would be calling the Principal about this fundraiser being part of the grade.

Haing spent many years as a PTA Treasurer, I can tell you we are always happy to accept a check. Higher profit, less hassle works for everyone.

 

[Leajess99]

Why should my child have to hit up all the relatives for magazine subscriptions for 6th grade Orchestra fundraising? I know the school budget has been slashed and they need to keep the program open, but I hate the magazine things. I would prefer just to donate whatever my child would have brought in...but it's a homework assignment and graded. To get a A she needs to send out 7 "postcards" to "people who love her" to get them to buy magazines.

I have some relatives who really have no money for this nonsense. Is this fair? Grrr...sorry for the vent. Any constructive ideas about what to do?

Just let the people you choose know to thrown them away upon receipt. The school gets the money if the kids send them in but that is it. We do thise every year and I just tell people to throw them away just as I do when I get them.

When I was in high school we went door to door selling magazines and that was over 20 years ago.

 

[bethy]

Our PTA does one big fundraiser a year and that's it. We do an auction and then a Walkathon on alternating years. The parents don't mind because both events are fun and positive and prevent us from ever having to sell stuff. This is a public school.

 

[cnlmom]

What am I missing.......what is to keep me from just "saying" I mailed out 7 cards and not really doing it? If they get mailed to other classmates, dr offices and to the other teachers and they all throw them in the garbage how is that counting for anything. Seems like a perfectly good waste of money on stamps if you ask me. Thats 3 bucks down the drain that could have been donated. Times that by a class of 30 kids is 90 bucks.

Count me in the I refuse to sell that junk. No none "wants" it. I just make a donation myself. The only thing I sell is girlscout cookies. Honestly people track me down to place an order every year. I can sell a hundred boxes without any effort.

Our kids wear school uniforms and once or twice a month they have free dress day which is anything but free. So we get dollared to death with the "free dress days". For a min donation of a buck they get to wear "regular clothes". But honestly, If it saves me from having to pester grandma or my co-workers to buy some overpriced cookie dough or wrapping paper, I am happy to pay the dollar every few weeks.

 

[krcit]

When DD was in public school, I would flatly refuse to do "sales" fundraisers. I do not sell wrapping paper, candy or anything else. I dont have time for that. However. I WILL bake for a bakesale,spend time for a walk-a-thon, send in boxes of tissue,hand sanitizer ect. I had to learn the valuable lesson. that I am ALLOWED to say NO.

I'm with you. All the junk catalogs go right in the garbage. I will not buy it or ask my relatives to buy it. I'm happy to bake or do a walk etc.

 

[Sabrina90744]

Our kids wear school uniforms and once or twice a month they have free dress day which is anything but free. So we get dollared to death with the "free dress days". For a min donation of a buck they get to wear "regular clothes". But honestly, If it saves me from having to pester grandma or my co-workers to buy some overpriced cookie dough or wrapping paper, I am happy to pay the dollar every few weeks.

Well count your blessings, not only do we get the Free Dollar Dress Days countless times a year - we have two raffles one for $150 per family the other $60 per family, $250 Magazine Subscription per family and $150 per child in chocolate sales. There is also the Class Bake sale and two mini-fiestas where purely donated items are sold.

 

[mum4jenn]

What am I missing.......what is to keep me from just "saying" I mailed out 7 cards and not really doing it? If they get mailed to other classmates, dr offices and to the other teachers and they all throw them in the garbage how is that counting for anything. Seems like a perfectly good waste of money on stamps if you ask me. Thats 3 bucks down the drain that could have been donated. Times that by a class of 30 kids is 90 bucks.
.

You don't mail the cards. You have to send them back in to the school. I think the cards nend up being slipped into a prepaid reply mailer that then has the magazine choices included.

It really is so much more simple to just do like we do and pick the random names out of the phone book.

 

[torinsmom]

Our old school once did a no-sale fundraiser. The students were given a form letter asking family a friends to send in a tax deductible donation to the school. Each child was asked to send the letter to at least 5 family members. There was no suggested donation--people were asked to give what they could afford. The letter included the sentiment that this was a way to keep children from having to sell door to door, and for the school to receive 100% profit. It went pretty well.

No selling fundraisers at my current school. We have some PTA nights where the 5th graders sell hot dogs to raise money for their end of year field trip and bake sales once in awhile for various purposes. We also have a spring carnival that includes games and food. At this event, we also have themed baskets made up by each class that you can buy a chance at winning. It's a lot of fun, and you can spend as little as you wish, or not come at all.

 

[skw444]

My sons school just did a really cool fundraiser. They did a fun run. There is a company that will come to your school for 2 weeks, they do programs about doing your best and about being healthy. They run no more than 35 laps and you can donate either per lap or a flat rate. The best part is instead of the company taking 50% of the money raised they only take 10%. My sons class alone raised $1600. The fun run was so much fun!!! The kids had a great time and it's so much better than cookie dough or magazines.

Our school did a fun run this year too except our school did all the work, so we got 100% of the money. We even had a local company sponsor to make t-shirts for all the students to wear. Our school ended up making $27,000 from this!

 

[Paintedlady]

I hated all that stuff when my kids were in school. We homeschool now and it is soooo nice to not have to deal with it any more.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

I guess Im the odd duck cause I get excited about certain school fundraisers. Magizines is one of my favorties. I awalys buy at least two differnt photography subscriptions. I fugure im gonna by the magizines anyways....

 

[quentina]

Actually, I am taking DD to the doctor today. Maybe she can hit them up for it.

I will email the teacher tonight and ask if I can just donate. What's really weird is that this is a public school. It is DD's first year in a public school. She was in a small Montessori school before and we never did fundraising through the kids. They would hit the parents up directly and it was a tax write-off. I guess that's what I'm used to.

As a PTO treasurer, we need the $$$$. Field trips, assemblies, family bingo night, awards, festivals, teacher requests, memorials etc......all paid with fundraising money.

The reason for so many is the low support rate. We average 18% of our 600 students.........we still provide for 600 students no matter how many families participate.

If you can't participate in the big ones, don't forget about the little things that add up (boxtops, cartridges for kids etc).

I would love for families to donate (any amount). One parent asked me to figure out the per kid cost and she would donate. So, I put it in excel and made a spreadsheet. It came to $103.00 without teacher requests. She was appaled by this amount and didn't believe me....I delivered the spreadsheet to her. SHe told me, she was expecting less than $20 bucks. Truly, one assembly is around $1500.00 (for 2 shows)....the expenses really add up!

As a parent, I feel your pain.........fundraiser's suck!!!

 

[punkin]

As a PTO treasurer, we need the $$$$. Field trips, assemblies, family bingo night, awards, festivals, teacher requests, memorials etc......all paid with fundraising money.

The reason for so many is the low support rate. We average 18% of our 600 students.........we still provide for 600 students no matter how many families participate.

If you can't participate in the big ones, don't forget about the little things that add up (boxtops, cartridges for kids etc).

I would love for families to donate (any amount). One parent asked me to figure out the per kid cost and she would donate. So, I put it in excel and made a spreadsheet. It came to $103.00 without teacher requests. She was appaled by this amount and didn't believe me....I delivered the spreadsheet to her. SHe told me, she was expecting less than $20 bucks. Truly, one assembly is around $1500.00 (for 2 shows)....the expenses really add up!

As a parent, I feel your pain.........fundraiser's suck!!!

I would be willing to donate $100 to get out of doing this thing.

 

[shelly3girls]

I don't mind reasonable fund raisers. Magazines are not too bad. My favorite was the Football mania. It was an easy sell and the soccer association made a 70% profit. We only had about 30% participation and it was our most profitable.

Right now I am selling lollipops for $1 a piece. Who wants to pay $1 for a lollipop? This is the most rediculous fundraiser I have ever been forced to do. I basically ended up buying $36 of lollipops to give away at Valentine's Day.

 

[anna08]

I played sports and was involved in many activities in school and never once had to do a fundraiser at our public school in PA. I believe that a lot of money was raised by the old-fashioned concession stands at the football and basketball games every week. Baked goods were from home and volunteer students and parents ran the stands. Maybe the OP should print out this thread and mail it in to her school's principal

 

[BurnsideMommy]

We don't have any fundraising through schools (yet), but eldest DS is a Cub Scout, and we just entered the fundraising world. I'm not loving it.

Fall he had popcorn sales. That stuff was pricey!
This month we start chocolate bar & jerky stick sales - lovely. I totally get how they need the money, a lot of folks don't participate in the fundraising AND don't donate to the pack - so it sucks. But seriously, we don't need the preservatives or sugar - and they only get 25 cents per item sold (costs $1). I'd rather just give the pack the money than buy stuff from my son - never mind selling it around town! But - he is excited about it because they can earn prizes, so I'll help him.

If it was a school assignment - I would be livid. Making someone fund raise (a child!) is not ok.

 

[mjkacmom]

What am I missing.......what is to keep me from just "saying" I mailed out 7 cards and not really doing it? If they get mailed to other classmates, dr offices and to the other teachers and they all throw them in the garbage how is that counting for anything. Seems like a perfectly good waste of money on stamps if you ask me. Thats 3 bucks down the drain that could have been donated. Times that by a class of 30 kids is 90 bucks.

Count me in the I refuse to sell that junk. No none "wants" it. I just make a donation myself. The only thing I sell is girlscout cookies. Honestly people track me down to place an order every year. I can sell a hundred boxes without any effort.
.

If you are referring to the magazine cards, you fill them out at home and bring them back to the school. Actually, I have to say, my kids came home with them yesterday, took out the school directory, addressed them to classmates, and were happy with their animal magnets! Not hard on me at all! Plus, our only other fundraiser (at school - I have tons for other activities), is a tricky tray, which raised $40,000 this year. I donate a $150 basket, attend, and I'm done.

 

[luvmy3]

My ds just brought home a fundraising packet today, which means my other kids will be bringing theirs home this week too. Its a new one for our school, a coupon book along the lines of the entertainment book, but more local businesses and not nearly as many things in it. They are $20 each I'm sorry but that is too much money to ask someone to spend for a school fundraiser. Whoever picked this one obviously wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, all the coupons are geared toward family things (restaurants, amusements, etc), so who are the families supposed to sell them to, eachother